To achieve these selfish ends we often turn against one another. We create artificial boundaries among ourselves. We create a gap between the haves and the have-nots. We wear blinkers from which we see reality in the form of male and female, white and black, Christian and Muslim. We divide up the earth into a first world, a second world, and a third world. We join the club of the rich and powerful. And we deride the class of the poor and powerless. To assure ourselves of our great importance, we assume a patronizing dictatorship over the poor and the weak. And we take it as our duty to civilise and to educate the poor, dirty dregs of the society. Yet, in the end, we exploit, manipulate, and lord it over them.
Today, however, Jesus, the owner and Master of the universe, warns us of the danger of assuming more than we are. To think that the essence of life hinges on worldly glory, self-importance, riches, and power is to live an illusion. This is why, according to St Paul, God raises up those who are despised to shame those who despise them. He chooses the weak to spite the strong. And he uses the foolish to mock the wise. Happiness in this life thus lies in appreciating that we are pilgrims not settlers in this world. As pilgrims our duty is to help one another enjoy our pilgrimage. To this end, Jesus offers us the beatitudes as our manifesto and our code of conduct on this pilgrimage: “happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven; ...happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.”